Sundowner fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Jul 22, 2014

Sundowner fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Mar 26, 2014

• (30:18) BioShock Infinite - Part 01: Hallelujah
  

• (31:18) BioShock Infinite - Part 02: Raffle & Fair
  

Sundowner fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Oct 20, 2013

Azure_Horizon fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Aug 26, 2013

• Pretty drat fun
  
• A pretty great videogame
  
• Not nearly as clever as it thinks it is.

Attestant fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Aug 26, 2013

1. The opening quote speaks of metaphysics and false memory. My immediate assumption is that the protagonist will be unreliable and unsound of memory. I assume this because that's exactly how Bioshock 1 worked (the sequel simply rendered your memory irrelevant), and because like Bioshock 1, you are here starting in the middle of the ocean with a vague premise that would do for any other game but not for a Bioshock game, under circumstances you do not understand. I look forward to finding out that you were a genetically-modified gopher in a robotic human body the whole time...
   
   
2. The man and woman you row in with never address you the entire time you are with them, not even in response to direct questions. Maybe they don't exist, and are a figment of your imagination? No, then they would only talk to you. Maybe you don't exist? Not sure how that would work
   
   
3. Odd that the protagonist speaks this time round. I'm rather used to silent protagonists from Bio/System shock. I suppose there's probably a good, meta reason for it all.
   
   
4. An interesting note on the conversation between the man and woman in the rowboat. The repetition of he doesn't row, with the emphasis on that word. What does that mean? In the context of the rest of their conversation, wherein they discuss the protagonist's actions as though he weren't there, does this mean he is an automaton of some sort who is not programmed to row, as Jack was in Bioshock 1? An object not endowed with sentience? Or maybe this is some kind of meta-thing, wherein they're referring to the fact that the character literally isn't programmed to row, because that's not what the game is about? Other explanations may come to me, but I'm certain that line is important somehow. Of course this is secondary to the question of who these two solipsistic maniacs actually are.
   
   
5. Mysterious notes on the lighthouse door. How the hell did it get here in the first place? Who is the dead man and why is he dead? The note on his body would seem to indicate he was left here for us to find, but by whom? And who exactly does "C" want stopped, and once more by whom? Is that another message to us? Or is it in reference to us? I'd assume the latter, but assumptions defeat the purpose of the game here.
   
   
6. Do the symbols and the tones (and the sequence) of the bells mean anything?
   
   
7. I'm getting a very strong Close Encounters of the Third Kind vibe from the interplay between the lighthouse chimes and whatever is above the clouds. Full disclosure, I do know that the game takes place on a flying city (I think everyone who saw an ad for Infinite knows that much. Perhaps this is a reference to alien contact? I'm probably way-overthinking things at this point, but hell, that's half the fun.
   
   
8. The end of the rocket-chair ride is a bit obvious parallel to Rapture's reveal in Bioshock one.
   
   
9. Okay, this has nothing to do with the plot, but I'll say this, the music in that underground, water-covered temple-church-cathedral-whatever is hauntingly beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this landing (the scripture and whatnot) in any game before. To return to the plot, we're barely a minute in, and I'm getting a very strong Church-of-Latter-Day-Saints vibe from this whole thing. Like we're entering some kind of Mormon Tabernacle.
   
   
10. Very strong. This Comstock guy even looks kind of like Joseph Smith. But for analysis: Comstock was the name of the silver lode in Colorado that was discovered in 1859, the one that George Hearst and the Bonanza Kings used to make their fortunes. It's also the name of a lot of other stuff, but that's the first thing that comes to mind. The Comstock lode was the biggest mining strike since the California Gold Rush, and helped sustain the western drive of American Expansion. I know from the rest of the thread that such themes are involved in this game, so perhaps this is a reference of import.
    
    
11. The "Lamb" will lead us to salvation sounds awfully like the entire premise of Bioshock 2. In fact it sounds so alike that there's no way it's a mere "reference" to the other game. I would at this juncture posit that this game and Bioshock 2 (and by extension 1) are connected intrinsically (not much of a leap given that they're in the same series). A prequel then, to Bioshock 1/2. But I'd assume at this point this Lamb has both something to do with the Girl we're looking for and with the major players of Bioshock itself.
    
    Wildly unsupported theory #1: Given the timeframe here, is the Girl we're rescuing Sofia Lamb, from Bioshock 2? If it's 1912 now and Bioshock 2 takes place in 1970, I think, then if the Girl is an infant now, she'd be 58 at the time of Bioshock 2. A little older than Lamb is portrayed, I think, but then Lamb can be assumed to have spliced herself with enough Adam to retard the aging process. I'll rate this at least theoretically possible.
    
    
12. Several interesting elements in the preacher's conversation. Comstock fought at Wounded Knee, which they're portraying here as a glorious victory. Wounded Knee was in 1890, 22 years before present. He then apparently led people to a new heaven/temple/whatnot, with heavy religious overtones. The surface is described as 'Sodom', aka sinful. The LDS parallels are now immense. I wonder if there's a direct connection. Other matters are less clear. A reference to defeating the "Orientals", which sounds reasonably disturbing. In connection with what? Chinese railroad workers? Why would they need to be beaten? The Boxer Rebellion of 1900? What connection would that have with a neo-Mormon revivalist prophet? Need more info. Also, something about casting out the Vox Populi. Vox Populi is latin for "Voice of the People", usually an idiom meaning the will of the populace. Does this mean he seized direct control over the city in defiance of some democratic government? Is this his personality cult? Sure looks like it.
    
    
13. Baptism memory-scene. So Booker has some debt, that much was referenced in the note on the lighthouse door. His office door indicates he's an private investigator. Works fine. But then he opens the door and finds a city (New York?) being attacked by airships. Okay... so is this a real memory or a fake one? Is the backstory of this world that New York was attacked by a fleet of airships and blown up? That might well be enough to spur all the techno-insanity of the Bioshock series. But then were the airships from Columbia (I'm guessing that's the name of the city from the use by the parishioners) or from somewhere else. It might just be me, but the city looks a bit... advanced... for 1912. Too many skyscrapers. Maybe he's remembering things weirdly. Let me do some research.
    
    
14. Yeah, something's completely off here. I paused the video and in the middle of that flashback you can plainly see the distinctive top of the Chrysler building as well as something I think is the Empire State building, which were built in 1930 and 1931 respectively. So he's remembering something that happened, at the earliest, 19 years after the events of the game. Which means time fuckery is going on. Or alternately that his "memory" is actually the events of the game, and that the "flashback" is his present reality. Great, because things weren't complex enough yet...
    
    
15. Okay, so we wake up in a garden where people are worshiping George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson as saints. Flaming sword across the Delaware indeed. This... sort of fits into the Mormon theme I was sensing before, not that those guys are literally worshiped, but it is Mormon doctrine that the US constitution is a divine document written by enlightened prophets. Again, I don't think these people are literally supposed to be Mormons (though that's certainly a possibility), but merely that any sort of indigenous Revivalist Christian American religious establishment is going to probably bear the Mormon stamp, especially if it was established in the context of the 1800s. Second Great Religiousness and all.
    
    
16. An impressive city, no doubt, but I'm more interested in some of those conversations. One woman mentioned the Vox Populi again, and this time it seemed to be a thing, or at least a term in common use. Another woman mentions some sort of story regarding marrying "a" Vox Populi. An... affiliation? Political? Religious? Maybe the plucky underdogs out to topple the evil cult leader? Seems a little obvious, but hey.
    
    
17. Gotta say, it's nice to see a working city for once in these games, though I assume we're going to be significantly altering this situation soon enough. A question though, why is nobody stopping Booker? The priest instantly discerned that he was from 'Sodom', yet he keeps talking like he needs to not get 'made' as being an outsider. Isn't it obvious that he's an outsider? It was to the priest.
    
    
18. It sounds like that conversation in the shoe-shine shop should be portentous, but I can't for the life of me think of how. I'll file it away for memory.
    
    
19. More Mormonism references in the Dictaphone things (I forget their names). The Archangel (Columbia?) reveals wisdom to Comstock, who like Joseph Smith (and Moses) protests that he is unworthy as he is not holy or righteous. Old story, but a very close parallel to LDS mythology. Though so far, nothing absolutely concrete.
    
    
20. All right, something's completely wrong here. That Barbershop Quartet was singing God Only Knows, which was written by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in 1966. An anachronism this obvious can only be intentional, which means something weird is going on here. Maybe time travel? Of what sort? Is Columbia from the future? That would explain how the city stays aloft, I suppose, but then why the throwback to 1912-era clothing and cultural mores?
    
    Wildly unsupported theory #2: The Prophet Comstock is a time traveler from the future who came back in time bearing advanced technology and founded a religion based on Mormonism while using his advanced technology to construct the city of Columbia. Such technology was then later used to construct Rapture via a connection between Andrew Ryan and Comstock that has not yet been established.
    
    
21. The telegram warns Booker not to alert Comstock to his presence. Well how the hell's he supposed to do that when everyone knows who he is? Forget the priest, the messenger boy (who has an awful voice actor) knew his name. How's Comstock not gonna know? As to "do not pick 77", I must assume that is in reference to the raffle we've heard about. But that means either the raffle is rigged, or there is more time travel insanity, wherein someone knows that picking 77 will result in disaster.
    
    
22. Returning for a second to the conversation between the woman and man in the boat before. When he mentioned that Booker "Doesn't" row... could that mean the man knew ahead of time that Booker was not going to row? If so, maybe he is a time traveler (and the woman with him). But then why did they drop him off at Columbia? How the hell did he meet them in the first place? I don't mind a mystery, but we're being denied vital information here that the protagonist has to know as to what the hell's going on. This annoys me, as it's less a mystery and more an idiot plot, with us as the enforced idiots.
    
    
23. I took that gigantic angel thing to be a cloud formation when Booker first approached the telescope. Is that supposed to be a building? It's the size of the Empire State Building. If it is, then obvious inference is that the "Lamb" is inside it. All right, so we will no doubt have to storm it by force at some point, only to meet some unexpected plot twist. Wonderful. I am of course assuming that the girl we were sent to bring to New York is the Lamb referred to in the propaganda about. But hell, if that a wrong assumption, then I'm completely lost.
    
    
24. Pretty crap magnification on those telescopes. Period-accurate I suppose
    
    
25. The barker advertising the Vigors (Plasmids by another name, I assume) mentioned they came from Jeremiah Fink. A lady in an earlier conversation mentioned something like "Finkertons", which I assume is an analog for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, a leg-breaking organization most famous for quashing mining strikes in the late 1800s. So this Fink is some kind of industrial magnate with a private army? I would assume we'll be running into them before long.
    
    
26. Just before the first video ends, I spotted a carnival booth at the fair titled "Hunt down the Vox". My previous theory regarding freedom fighters against Comstock seems somewhat vindicated. Presumably we'll be helping them raise the revolution against their oppressors or something.
    

GenHavoc fucked around with this message at 06:31 on Aug 26, 2013

Sundowner fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Aug 26, 2013

• How did Booker get from the baptismal font to the garden with the statues of the founders? And for that matter, why did the priest baptize Booker twice? What did he say before the second baptism? "This one isn't clean yet"? What does that mean? What sins has Booker committed that are greater than those of ordinary people, and how would that be apparent to the priest? Or was the entire baptism sequence some kind of fever dream? Did Booker take the rocket-chair up to Columbia and land in the garden directly, and the baptism sequence was just another suspect memory?
  
  Wildly unsupported theory #3 Booker never was in the rowboat or on the lighthouse at all. Booker lives in Columbia and for some reason, walked into the garden of the founders, fainted, and woke up with a memory of strange events leading him here. This explains why the newsboy recognizes him, and why nobody seems put off by his (presumably) different clothes or accent. It does not explain how the money he acquired in his fever dream became real, but perhaps that was money he happened to have with him at the time of him passing out. Or perhaps he was placed there by someone.
  

GenHavoc fucked around with this message at 07:24 on Aug 26, 2013